Newsletter

Echo House demolition up for review again

The last time Echo House was up for a certificate of demolition at the Historic Architectural Review Board, people nearly filled the Alcazar Room at St. Augustine City Hall.

Members of the St. Paul AME Church congregation showed up to support their pastor, the Rev. Ron Rawls, who wants to get a certificate of demolition to tear the structure down.

He says the church needs parking spaces to survive.

Others spoke in opposition, saying officials should find a way to help Rawls other than tearing down the structure. Echo House is on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Lincolnville, across from St. Paul AME Church.

Echo house is a former community center and black nursing home that was built in the 1920s, but it has fallen into disrepair.

Rawls said the church needs parking to survive, and making a parking lot out of Echo House would help.

But one member of the board estimated that the lot would only create about 50 spaces.

At the end of the meeting, board members asked Rawls to get the property inspected to see if it is feasible to rehabilitate it. Officials also wanted to look into other options for parking before making a decision about the certificate for demolition.